Cathay Pacific’s 777 first class cabin consists of just six seats, spread across two rows in a 1-1-1 configuration. While Cathay Pacific doesn’t have fully enclosed suites, they do have among the most private and spacious first class products out there. I don’t think I’ve once found myself wishing that the seat had a door — that’s how private it is.

The finishes are beautiful, and you really feel like you have your own “cocoon” for the entire journey.

Cathay Pacific’s first class amenities were the same as usual. There were a set of comfortable pajamas, slippers, and an Aesop amenity kit. The amenity kit has a great Aesop moisturizer and lip balm, though is otherwise quite basic.

I find food on Cathay Pacific to be consistently mediocre. Or perhaps more accurately, some courses are consistently good, while others are consistently “bleh.”

The caviar service is among the best in the sky.

The soups are generally quite good as well. On this flight it was a roasted red pepper soup.

At the moment Cathay Pacific seems to have a first class catering partnership with Tosca, which is the great Italian restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong.

Unfortunately some of the dishes don’t translate very well. The octopus terrine salad was not good at all.

For the main courses the choice is usually between a steak and pasta. The steak is typically massive but tough and not very lean, while the pasta isn’t great either. So usually I skip the main course. However, in this case they had chicken as a main course, which was one of the Tosca signature dishes. It was a pan friend chicken breast with green beans and couscous. It was reasonably good, though not amazing.

Then for dessert there’s always a dish consisting of berries with cream, which was excellent.

My usual Cathay Pacific meal “plan” is to have the caviar, soup, sometimes the salad, and then the berries for dessert. That meal is of course rounded off with a good bit of Krug as well. 😉

The best part of the Cathay Pacific meal service is that you can dine face to face with someone, which is always a special treat on a plane.

While there’s a full meal service before landing, I elected to just have an afternoon tea service, given that we were flying to London and I wasn’t all that hungry.

The flight time was 12hr30min, and I managed to get a solid eight hours of sleep. Cathay Pacific has the most comfortable bed in the sky, so thanks to that I managed to get “real” sleep. That’s amazingly good on a daytime flight. I had loaded up a bunch of work to get done, but that never ended up happening. Oh well, I needed the sleep.

The service on this flight was excellent as well, as I find to be the norm on Cathay Pacific. The crew was friendly, engaging, and attentive.

Cathay Pacific also has a solid entertainment selection, though I didn’t watch anything on this flight. While Cathay Pacific is installing wifi on their newly delivered A350s, unfortunately none of their 777s have wifi.

As I hinted at above, Cathay Pacific has made some very minor service cuts. There’s no longer a pre-takeoff amuse bouche. Instead they just serve the welcome drink with mixed nuts.

They also no longer offer a plate of chocolates after the meal, but rather a box with two chocolates. I actually quite like this change, as it allows you to enjoy the chocolates later on in the flight. After all, after downing a five or six course meal, you may not exactly be in the mood for a whole plate of chocolates.

Bottom line

Cathay Pacific first class continues to be one of the best ways to fly. Their seats are comfortable, spacious, and private, the service is excellent, and they have the most comfortable bed in the sky. While I don’t love all of Cathay Pacific’s menu, the caviar and Krug, soup, and dessert are consistently excellent, which is plenty for a proper meal.

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I’ve flown most of the better first class products you review, including about ten first class CX flights, and I find CX to consistently be the best for first class, and my favorite way to fly to Asia.

However, unlike you, I have not had any bad meals, and the times I’ve ordered steak, I’ve found them to be quite good and not fatty.

The problem now is that first class award availability is no where as good as it was a few years ago.

From seeing things on instagram looks like they had a film crew with them on this RTW trip as I saw the producer or something posting photos of him and Ford and filming. I am sure the full details will be revealed soon.

Finishes are beautiful? On my CX F flight back from Paris this month the overhead panel had come away from the edge leaving a 1-2 inch gap and the “wood” had peeled off the side area and been super glued back but was coming off again…

@Credit It’s sad that you have no life except to troll blogs to post irrelevant whinings about Trump. You sound like a bitter unemployed piece of trash that blames all his problems on everyone and everything else. Reading your posts kills brain cells, so I will avoid doing so in the future.

My husband and I loved flying first on CX To Asia. Food and service were mostly good. The caviar is always the best part to us and steak for my husband. He enjoyed CX steak compared to the steak Emirates served to him on first. As a couple, we enjoyed dining together on CX which we find it very nice. TG also do this. Which I think is very cool. The comfort of the seat/bed is the major attraction to us. But like what others said, rewards seat is now difficult to find.

Flew CX First ZRH-HKG-SIN on Valentines Day. Overall experience was ok, but not over the top.
Food was solid (Filet Mignon by Park Hyatt Zurich) and did not miss the pre-takeoff amuse bouche nor the chocolate plate.
But was a little bit surprised they did not “anything special” for a couple in FC on Valentines Day, they forgot even the handwritten card they normally present on the tabke during dinner. And with just the two of us in FC, they weren’t overloaded with work…

No more pre-flight amuse bouche?… that’s news to me. My last flight in F HKG-LAX last month still had one.

Totally agree re: food. That steak is not good, tough and cold when medium-rare. Other dishes usually mediocre, and the Chinese option is somehow never appealing enough for me to consider. The mid-flight burger – also available in business class – is a good alternative.

I have some issues with the cabin. Yes, beds are comfortable. But I think it is showing its age. Some of the paneling is secured with (subtle) duct tape. The fact that the two toilets are on the left side means 4 of the 6 passengers have to walk across, and strangely one of them (meant for pilot use presumably) is not as finely stocked as the other, for example it does not have cloth towels. Strange lack of attention to detail.

One of the better things to do on CX F is to order tea. Beautifully presented, with a bone china pot on a lacquered tray.

Yes, CX food both in J and in F is overhyped, with breathless menu descriptions, but really isn’t that good. The Chinese food is particularly bad, fatty and salty and gristle-y. But a seat on the left side of a 777 in F is blissfully wide and spacious and I’ve always gotten the best sleep I ever get on a plane. One time the FA commented on it: “You slept a long time.”

Too bad AAdvantage rates have gone through the roof.

Yes, the amouse bouche is gone, not that it was worth much. The salmon with the caviar (which was better than the caviar) has been gone for a while.

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About Lucky

Ben Schlappig (aka Lucky) is a travel consultant, blogger, and avid points collector. He travels about 400,000 miles a year, primarily using miles and points to fund his first class experiences. He chronicles his adventures, along with industry news, here at One Mile At A Time.

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